Travel Guide Biriya Forest

Biriya Forest is located a few kilometres north of Safed, after the village of the same name. This superb location has many historic places and has recently been a beautiful panoramic road. Biriya Forest can be crossed from Safed to reach Route No. 90 and Rosh Pina. This nevertheless represents a slight detour to road No. 89, faster and more direct.After the fall of Jerusalem in the early years of the first millennium, a number of Jews fled to the region of the current Safed. Thus, the area around Biriya became an important centre for the study of the Torah during the period of the Mishnah (th and th centuries). Amuka, a small village and study centre in the centre of the forest, is located near the tomb of Yehonatan Ben Uziel. His burial site regularly hosts a significant number of visitors. This rabbi is also very popular for those who wish to marry and who come to gather on his grave in order to see their wish fulfilled. Among the other sages associated with the name of the forest, Rabbi Joseph Caro (who can visit the synagogue that bears his name in Safed) would have written the first part of the Choul'han Rjc, the code of Jewish law.On the panoramic road near Amuka, you can see the remains of the synagogue of Naburiya, an archaeological site of importance of Biryia Forest. Easily accessible, it is an unavoidable stop for those that are conveyed.Closer to Safed, Biriya Fortress is a fortified town that dominates the forest north of the current village of Biriya. It was built in 1946 during the British Term by the Jewish forces in order to defend the site. Destroyed during the War of Independence it was rebuilt at the end and served for several years as host camp for new immigrants. In 1971, the village of Biriya was created in the south-west of the original site. Biriya Fortress was then transformed into a museum to explain the history of the region.Large reforestation works have been carried out in the Forêt forest by the Jewish National Fund (or Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - KKL) since the creation of the State of Israel. During the Second Lebanon War of 2006, Hezbollah rockets launched from Lebanon caused Enormous fires. Today, in addition to the pines that initially inhabited the forest, there are different types of trees with large leaves such as oaks and birch with fruit trees such as the olive tree, or the almond tree. Cedars have more recently been implanted.